Pokémon Outbreak: Book One, Sinnoh
by iBazly
Summary: A Pokémon breeder and his newly inherited Pokémon must fight to survive when a virus that infects both humans and Pokémon sweeps the globe. Never having battled together before, they must now fight to protect themselves against a world full of flesh eating monsters.
1. Prologue: The Day the Earth Stood Still

**Prologue**

 **The Day the Earth Stood Still**

My name is Hunter Yamauchi, and I am a Pokémon Breeder. At least, I used to be. I don't know who or what I am anymore. Not since the virus broke out.

I suppose you could say that my story really started about five years ago. I had just spent my teen years studying alongside Professor Rowan of Sandgem Town. All my life I had wanted to become a Pokémon Breeder. Even when I was young, I didn't get excited by Pokémon battles or tournaments. Instead, I spent my youth in the library. I read about which kinds of food different Pokémon liked, how to determine a Pokémon's characteristics, and even what abilities could be passed on to a Pokémon from its parents.

Professor Rowan, Sinnoh's resident Pokémon Professor, had heard of my studies from one of my school teachers, and contacted me to ask if I wanted to help him in his lab. In return he would teach me as much as he could about Pokémon. Naturally, I was ecstatic. A chance to work with an expert was exactly what I needed to establish credibility in the fields of Pokémon breeding and study. To make things even better, Professor Rowan had found the trainer that took down Team Galactic just a few years prior. This was a chance to learn while also making a name for myself.

My internship with the professor taught me many things, though I never fully understood what he was working on. It appeared to be something to counteract an that illness he said was becoming a problem in the Johto region. He told me that the issue had first been discovered in Goldenrod City and was rumoured to have come from an old lab belonging to the criminal organization Team Rocket, which had been inactive for almost a decade. He was very secretive about the project though, and I learned little else about what had happened. I did as I was told, and while we worked Professor Rowan would tell me about the many things he had learned studying Pokémon. His findings were fascinating, and even extended to the proper way to care for inorganic Pokémon, like the gelatinous Ditto; or Porygon, the Pokémon created entirely by human programming.

When I turned eighteen, Professor Rowan decided that it was time my internship with him ended. Though he had still not completed the project he was working on, he felt I had learned everything he had to teach me. He was so pleased with my work that he offered to help me open my own Pokémon Daycare, anywhere I wanted. Though I had been raised in Solaceon Town there was already a daycare there, so I decided to set up shop on Route 205 between Floaroma Town and Eterna City. We built the daycare right next to the entrance to Eterna Forest. Before my father passed, he always used to talk about how much he loved travelling to Eterna, but unfortunately he was always too sick to ever take me there. I finally had the chance to see it while doing what I loved.

Thanks to Professor Rowan's connections, the Yamauchi Pokémon Care Facility was up and running in just six months. Being so close to the city, trainers often stopped by on their way through, and so business was steady for the first few months. It wasn't too long until I was able to hire staff to help out. First, a young girl from Floaroma Town named Akane, and then a boy around my age from Eterna City named Hayato. Over just a few months we helped dozens of Pokémon and their trainers, and even raised a few that evolved while in our care.

It was a year after the daycare had opened that I ended up with my first Pokémon. Having always been interested in breeding, not training, I never had the opportunity to raise a Pokémon of my own. Sinnoh was in a time of peace since Team Galactic activity had reduced, and so I spent all of my time studying instead of out exploring and meeting wild Pokémon that I could tame. With the daycare running, I got to care for so many Pokémon that I didn't really mind not having one of my own. At times though, when I saw a trainer come to pick up their beloved Pokémon, I would see the strong bond between the two and wonder if I was missing out on something.

One morning Hayato and I were getting ready to open the daycare when Akane ran in, a Pokémon in one hand and a Pokéball in the other. She ran up to me in a panic, and started telling me about how she was on her way to work when she found a trainer yelling at his Pokémon. The trainer had just been in a battle and his Pokémon, a Cubone, had lost. Before Akane could intervene, the trainer threw his Cubone's Pokéball to the ground and stormed off, commanding it to stay away from him. Akane sat down, still cradling the Cubone in her arms, tears welling up in her eyes. Hayato and I sat down with her. She seemed exhausted, and explained to us that she had run all the way to the daycare worrying that Cubone may have been injured. Since they were still learning a lot about Pokémon care, Hayato and Akane didn't know how to fully examine Pokémon for injuries. I asked Akane if I could take a closer look, and with a nod she handed Cubone over to me.

I looked down at the Pokémon. Smaller than the average Cubone, this one was just under a foot tall. He had thick orange skin, small arms and legs, a short tail, and on his back were two large protrusions that looked like spikes. He was wearing a large skull helmet, a signature piece of any Cubone, though this one appeared to be a bit too large for him. Around his neck he was wearing a brown leather scarf, like the ones I had seen in old cowboy movies. In his left hand he held a large bone club, though its grip was weak and its arm hanged lazily at its side. Whenever I tried to look it in the eye, it would turn its head and look away in shame. Hayato asked if Cubone would be okay, and I assured him that I saw no signs of serious injury. Then Akane asked a question we were all thinking: what were we going to do with this abandoned Pokémon? As she asked the question, I looked down at Cubone again. This time he looked back up at me. As he looked up, tears still in his eyes, a feeling came over me. Much like the feeling I had when I was watching other trainers bond with their Pokémon. With a smile I looked back up at Akane and Hayato, and told them that I would be taking care of Cubone. He would be my first Pokémon.

My relationship with Cubone was difficult at first. He refused to eat for several days, no matter what kind of food I made for him. Fortunately, he was curious about me. I would often catch him watching me as I cared for other Pokémon, but once I looked at him he would either avert his gaze or run away. Finally, a month after he had come into my care, Cubone approached me as I was feeding some Pokémon. He had barely been sleeping or eating, and was finally looking to me for food. We soon discovered that Cubone really liked spicy flavours, so I mixed him some food using the spicy Liechi and Petaya berries, with a bit of dry Ganlon berry to balance the high saturation of the other ingredients.

Shortly after that things took a stunning turn. Not only did Cubone come to trust me more, but he even became my own personal helper. He seemed to like watching me mix different kinds of food, and quickly learned which Pokémon liked what flavours. Within a month he was helping me with the daily feeding routine, and even managed to mix some food on his own. The other Pokémon responded well to him, more easily trusting another Pokémon than a human they did not know. Despite the big change in Cubone's mood, though, at night I could still hear him up late, trying to stifle sad whimpers and howls. On top of that, his Pokéball was broken and unusable, something that seemed to stress him out from time to time. I tried my best to create a space for him to get away in private, but the layout of the daycare made it difficult to find the room. On top of that, I was never able to find time to get his Pokéball repaired. I kept it with me anyway, though, in hopes that one day I would be able to have someone fix it.

Since Cubone could understand the other Pokémon on a personal level, he was able to find out exactly what each one needed. As word spread, more and more people came to the daycare. Even some Gym Leaders came to have us take special care of their Pokémon, as a way of giving them a break from days of battling. My new staff were getting full time hours, and we started getting special requests from the Eterna and Floaroma Pokémon Centers to house patients who needed long term care. We also managed to work with the Centers to get more resources for the daycare and additional work benefits for the staff. Everything seemed to be looking up for my small business, but the month Akane got sick, everything changed.

Akane had missed work for two weeks straight when Cubone and I decided to go check on her. Though her parents seemed optimistic, it was clear that they were tired and stressed. Their house was also very messy, and they explained that caring for Akane had been taking up all of their time. When they showed us to Akane's room, Cubone stopped at the doorway, growling. I tried to get him to enter the room, saying that Akane would be happy to see him, but he refused to move another inch. Shrugging at her parents, I told Cubone to wait outside the door.

As always, Akane greeted me with a wide smile. She looked very pale, except around her nose and eyes which were red and swollen. She reassured me that everything was okay, and was certain she had caught the flu from someone she battled out on Route 204. Apparently she had encountered a trainer a few days before she got sick. She could tell from the strain in his voice and his frail appearance that he was ill, but he demanded they battle nonetheless. As she told me her story, I noticed her scratching at a cut on her hand.

When the battle began, Akane sent out her prized Pokémon Luxio, the cat-like electric type Pokémon. She had been given Luxio when she was only six years old, back when it was still a baby Shinx. In response, the other trainer sent out a Chatot, the parrot Pokémon. Akane could instantly tell that something was wrong. The Chatot's feathers were all ruffled, and its eyelids were drooping, as if it could hardly stay awake. There were small chips in its beak, and its usually bright blue, green, and yellow feathers seemed to have faded. Before anyone even gave any commands, the Chatot darted at Luxio and dug its beak deep into his side. Luxio let out a cry unlike anything Akane had ever heard, so she instantly withdrew him. As she angrily yelled at the other trainer, he just laughed to himself and turned to walk away. Akane started following him, but after a few steps the Chatot flew at her and bit her hand.

I looked over her cut closely. It seemed to be healing nicely, and didn't look abnormal for a Chatot bite. It wasn't uncommon in the daycare for Pokémon to get into fights and sometimes bite each other, so I had already seen many different kinds. I reassured her it would be fine, and that Chatot bites weren't venomous or dangerous, just painful. I asked her how Luxio was doing, since he had been bitten too. With tears in her eyes, she told me Luxio had gotten sick as well, and died the night before.

That evening I got a frantic call from Professor Rowan.

"Hunter? Hunter I'm sorry to call you so late," he said, speaking very quickly, "I wish I had time to explain."

"What's going on Professor?"

"My research... my experiments... all of it lead to nothing. Things have gotten worse. Much worse. Johto and Kanto... soon Sinnoh... It's going to be difficult Hunter." His voice shook violently as he spoke, and he sounded like he hadn't slept in days.

"I'm meeting some of the other renowned Pokémon Professors, and we're going to try to come up with a plan... but Hunter, you have to understand, even if we come up something it won't be in time to stop it. Even if we come up with a plan... something bad is about to happen."

"Stop what Professor Rowan? What is about to happen?"

"I can't explain. I just... I've sent one of my research aides out to see you. He has a file for you. It is imperative that you get that file and keep it safe. I can't guarantee that the other Professors and I will be able to come up with a plan. Or even survive to see a plan through. There are copies of all of my research in that file. He's heading to you through Floaroma Town. That research cannot fall into the wrong hands. When you get it, you have to..."

Before he could finish the call was cut off. I tried calling him back but every time I would receive no answer. It was starting to get dark, and the last few Pokémon we had been taking care of were picked up by their trainers. For the first time in weeks it was just Cubone and I alone in the house. I had no idea what Professor Rowan had been working on, or what could have possibly gone wrong. Alone in the daycare, all I could do was wonder what Professor Rowan was talking about when he said something bad was coming.

The next day I woke up to Cubone poking at me. Confused and only half awake, I let Cubone lead me to a nearby window to look outside. In the yard in front of our house, a small group of Kricketot, the bug Pokémon, were standing and staring off into the distance. Their normally red bodies had paled to a pink hue, and many of their antennae were bent or broken off entirely. A lot of them had large bite marks on their bodies, and some were even missing limbs.

I was ready to run for the door to try and help, when Cubone grabbed me and pulled me back to the window. Again he gestured for me to look outside. I couldn't figure out what he was trying to show me, so I just watched. After a few seconds, a Bidoof came hopping by. It's normally puffed up tufts of fur looked messy, and it appeared to be shaking. Following it were more deformed Kricketot. The Bidoof backed away from them slowly, but the group standing in our yard cut him off.

I stared in disbelief as the horde of Kricketot pounced at the Bidoof, biting and scratching at it viciously. Though they attacked with force, there seemed to be a certain absent-mindedness in their movements. Some even stumbled over one another to get at the helpless Pokémon. Soon the biting and scratching lead to entire chunks of its flesh being ripped off. Again I tried to run outside, but Cubone grabbed me and pulled me back to the window. The Bidoof laid dead on the ground, and the Kricketot started backing away from it. The Pokémon stayed there motionless for a few seconds, and then started to twitch. I could barely believe my eyes as it got up, and started crawling around our yard.

Cubone and I started making sure all of our doors and windows were locked, and closed our curtains. We then turned on the television to see if there was any news about what we were seeing outside. On every station, reporters were talking about strange attacks across the globe. Both Pokémon and people seemed to be going into a frenzy, attacking one another. The strangest part was, victims of the attacks were being bitten and eaten by the assailants, and those that appeared to be dead would then wake up and start attacking others around them.

As the day went on, different stations started shutting down, but the ones that stayed on gave very little additional information. Rumours were spreading that several criminal organizations may have been involved in what was happening, including Team Rocket from the Kanto and Johto regions, and Team Plasma from the Unova region. Many were saying that Johto had been hit the hardest, and was possibly the source of this strange condition that was affecting everyone. The last anyone had heard from the region, was from Pokémon Professors Oak and Elm, and Oak's grandson Green, who had managed to get several survivors into the Dragon's Den in Blackthorn City and fortify it.

Suddenly, the previous day's events struck me. Had Professor Rowan known about this strange condition that was affecting everyone? Could that have been what he was working on the entire time I knew him? Was it possible that the trainer Akane had encountered was also suffering from this condition? If so, did that mean her and Luxio were going to turn into monsters like the others had? All of these questions and more raced through my brain as we watched one television station after another go off the air. By the time night fell, every network had shut down.

Every now and then Cubone and I would look outside, and we noticed that the number of deformed Pokémon wandering around our house had been steadily increasing all day. Sometimes a few would wander off and get distracted by something, but there would always be more to replace them shortly after. Then, just as were trying to settle down and get to sleep, we started hearing scratching and loud banging on our front door.

We approached cautiously, hoping to try and get to a window and take a look at what was making the noise. The banging grew louder, and before we could even reach the door the lock snapped and it swung open. On the other side was a group of about ten Pokémon, who all started stumbling into our hallway. They were made up entirely of local Pokémon: mostly Kricketot and Bidoof, and a few of the slug-like Shellos. All of their skin and fur had faded, which made the Shellos look particularly strange. Normally bright pink and blue in colour, their slimy bodies had faded to a dull grey.

In shock I started backing away, but tripped over a loose board and fell to the floor. My ears rang and I struggled to come to my senses. I felt dizzy from the fall, but knew that if I couldn't shake it off soon these Pokémon would attack us. I sat up, and as my vision came back I saw Cubone standing at my feet. He had a determined look in his eyes, and once he was sure I could see him he gave me a quick nod. He then turned to face the incoming horde, raising his bone club and pointing it at them. He then turned his head back to look at me. At first I was confused, but quickly it dawned on me that he was awaiting my command.

I froze. I thought of how hurt Cubone was when he first came to me, and all of the times I had heard him up at night, crying. I had never even had a Pokémon before, let alone a Pokémon battle. Yet in that moment my skills as a Pokémon trainer were going to mean the difference between life and death. I saw the look on Cubone's face, and felt a great sense of pride well up inside me. Getting to my feet, I yelled words that I never imagined I would hear myself say.

"Cubone! Bonemerang!"

In response, Cubone quickly threw his bone club forward. It flew though the Pokémon horde, hitting a few of them in the head, and a few in their arms and torsos. Each collision made a loud cracking noise. Some of them fell to the floor, while the others continued to lumber forward. As the bone club came back, it hit a few more, and I started to notice a pattern. It seemed as though any that were hit in the head would die, while the others continued on. To test my theory I told Cubone to specifically aim for their heads, and each time he did the Pokémon he hit would collapse.

Cubone continued to throw his club, until finally only one Bidoof remained in our house. It was close enough to Cubone to bite him, so I quickly yelled for him to use Bone Club. Without hesitation Cubone lifted his weapon in the air, and smashed it down onto the Bidoof's head. With a loud crack, the Pokémon let out a shriek and fell to the floor.

A heavy silence filled the house. Though the Bidoof was dead, Cubone was still holding his club out in front of him. I waited a moment, but he didn't budge. Taking a slow step forward, I whispered his name, not wanting to startle him. When he heard my voice he dropped his club and fell to the floor, shivering.

I ran over to him and cradled him in my arms. He was crying and trying to stifle his sobs. I remembered the first time I held him like this, after his trainer had abandoned him. Then I thought about what had just happened. We had never battled together before, and I had never had a Pokémon battle in my entire life. Our first Pokémon battle, and it had been against vicious monsters that were out to kill us. And we had killed them all. Cubone had killed them all.

I felt tears well up in my eyes as I held him close and tried to reassure him everything would be okay. But as I looked at the darkness outside our front door, I felt myself longing to believe the words I was saying. Part of me wanted to believe that when we woke up the next morning, everything would be back to normal. Maybe then, in a couple of weeks, we could get back to running our daycare. That thought helped me feel a bit better, but another part of me still felt like the world was changing. Yet I had no idea that in less than a year, we would be driven from our home and forced to leave Sinnoh forever.


	2. Chapter 1: 28 Days Later

**Chapter 1**

 **28 Days Later**

A month into the outbreak, Cubone and I developed a good system for surviving in our new world. Fortifying the house took a while. All of the windows on the first floor had to be boarded up, and the front door to the daycare needed to be reinforced. We were able to do this using nearby supplies, but after about a week we needed more. We started taking trips every two days into Floaroma Town to scavenge for supplies. By the end of the first week our front door had six different locks on it, and by the end of the second week the first floor was entirely secured. Although securing the house didn't take too long, the apocalypse presented a number of other challenges.

For one, the virus seemed to affect different Pokémon in different ways. For the first two weeks we frequently would house trainers who were passing through Route 205, and they would share stories with us. It seemed like rock, steel, and ground types were less likely to contract the disease, as their thick skins were harder for the dead Pokémon to pierce through. Poison types also seemed to be more resistant, perhaps because their bodies were already full of toxins that helped counteract the virus. They were not completely immune though. With enough exposure even an Onix, the giant rock snake Pokémon, could be turned: a truly horrifying sight to witness first hand. The one type that were unaffected though, were ghost Pokémon.

Since they had very little actual flesh for the zombies to bite into, it was almost impossible for them to be bitten or scratched by the infected Pokémon. On top of this, even if they did somehow manage to get bitten or scratched, it seemed that the infection would never stick. Due to this, there was a sudden rise in the number of ghost Pokémon all over Sinnoh. More and more trainers were showing up at the daycare in need of care for their newly acquired ghost Pokémon, so Cubone and I had to frequently get the appropriate supplies and foods while scavenging in order to meet the demand. As the numbers of other Pokémon types dwindled, more wild ghost Pokémon started to appear all over Route 205. Primarily we saw Misdreavus, the mischevious ghost Pokémon; and Drifloon, the balloon-like Pokémon. We had to keep a steady supply of repelling charms in the house in order to ward off the ghosts that would try to get into our house and steal our possessions.

We were also fortunate enough not to get any attention from hostile trainers while we stayed at the daycare, but those who passed through warned us that trouble could be on its way. Team Galactic members, desperate to survive, were apparently going to greater lengths than usual in order to steal others' possessions and Pokémon. No one who passed seemed to have much information on the virus or the criminal organizations rumoured to be involved in creating it, as they were all too focused on surviving to worry about where the infection had originated.

The biggest threat, though, was one that we were reminded of on a daily basis and made it incredibly difficult for us to get a lot of work done during the day. As part of our daycare we had set up a small berry garden on the property. One week after the outbreak we were heading out at six in the morning to tend to the garden when Cubone sensed something. He pushed me away from the door and pointed out to a window. We sat and watched as a massive, intimidating shadow passed over our land. I tried to make out the shape but could not tell what it was. Unfortunately we were soon found out, as a massive figure crashed to the ground a few miles down the road from our house.

Cubone and I ducked low to hide as well as we could, and stared in awe as Tropius, the tropical fruit Pokémon, thrashed about in the field near the daycare. Tropius looked like big palm trees, though this one had clearly been infected by the virus. Its normally lush green leaves were brown and dry. Its body had faded to a dull grey, and chunks of it had fallen off. One of its four legs was just a stump, and when it tried to walk it had a slight limp. The bananas around its neck were rotten and small flies hovered around Tropius' head, trying to get at them. This one was also larger than most, and looked like it was almost seven feet tall.

Despite being infected, though, Tropius seemed very alert. While the Kricketot, Bidoof, and Shellos we were used to seeing were slow and absent minded, Tropius seemed to look around with purpose. It was keenly aware of its surroundings, as if it were looking for something. After a few minutes of watching, it let out a vicious cry and then began flapping its leaves. Although they were dry and frail, they still managed to let Tropius take flight. For the next three hours it flew around Route 205. We knew that it was unsafe to go outside while it was in the area, and so we waited until we had not seen it for at least an hour before heading outside. I hoped this would only be a temporary delay, but every day that followed Tropius was back at exactly the same time, flying through Route 205. This meant that every day we were stuck inside until noon, and because of this we had a hard time keeping our berry trees alive.

Our other major concern was running out of supplies. After the first week we lost electricity, though the daycare was designed to run on a backup generator in case a storm ever left us without power. We needed fuel to keep it going, though, a resource that was not easy to come by. We also needed wood to rebuild fences and barricades if they were ever knocked down. After just a month we were already running low on both, and had not seen another trainer in over two weeks. I thought that there may be an abundance of supplies in Eterna City, but did not dare venture into a place that had once been so heavily populated. I did not want to risk going somewhere that, for all I knew, could be full of monsters. To make matters worse, we would need to travel through Eterna Forest to get there, and we had no clue what could be hiding within.

The last time I spoke to Professor Rowan before the outbreak, he said that one of his research aides was coming to see me and deliver a file. After a full month of waiting, I gave up hope that he would make it. We were told he would be coming through Floaroma Town, and so Cubone and I always kept an eye out when we made our supply runs. Unfortunately we saw no sign of the aide, and would always need to stop searching before the sun started to set. As much as I wanted to get that file and keep it safe, finding supplies was our top priority.

One morning as I was getting out of bed, I took a quick look out of my bedroom window to see if any of the fences or barricades in our front yard had broken. My attention quickly shifted though, to a woman running through our yard. She was holding something in her arms, and began pounding on our front door screaming for help. I quickly ran out of my room and downstairs, thinking about how this was normally the time when Tropius would be flying by. When I reached the front door, Cubone was already there waiting. The banging continued as I tried to quickly unlock the door, while Cubone stood with his bone club at the ready.

Finally I pulled the last lock out of place and opened the door. Standing outside was a woman around my age, with pale skin and long red hair. Her colourful clothing would have normally been a cheerful sight, were it not for the blood and dirt covering her body from head to toe. In her arms she was holding a Froakie, the blue frog Pokémon, bundled up in a pink blanket. She had tears streaming down her face, and was completely out of breath. As she struggled to ask me to let her in, my eyes were drawn to a large shadow cascading across the lawn.

"Get in!" I yelled, quickly grabbing her arm and pulling her into the house. I slammed the door behind her and quickly started closing the locks. I made it through three before I heard the flapping of Tropius' decaying leaves, and started backing away from the door.

"Wh-what's going on?" the woman stuttered through her cries, "Can you help me? My Froakie, she..." Before she could finish I ran over to her and put my hand over her mouth.

"Please, be quiet," I whispered to her, "We will help Froakie, but you need to be quiet, understand?"

As she nodded, we were both startled by a loud crash in the front yard. Assuming it was Tropius landing on part of the fence or one of the barricades, I dropped into a crouch and gestured at the woman to follow me. She ducked as low as she could while holding Froakie, and followed me and Cubone into the kitchen. On the floor next to the kitchen window we had placed some pillows and blankets on the floor so that we could comfortably hide when we knew something was lurking outside. We quickly fell onto the floor and laid in silence, listening to Tropius.

At first we heard nothing but the occasional grunt as it stood in the yard. We then heard a series of loud stomps as it walked closer to the house, until we could hear its moans and heaves beyond the window directly above us. I looked at the woman I had dragged into my house and could see the look of fear on her face. She looked at me, her eyes wide open and tears rolling down her cheeks. Her entire body was shaking and she held a hand over her mouth to keep herself from yelling. I tried my best to stay calm and not let her know that I was worried, but in reality my heart was pounding so fast that it felt like someone was punching me in the chest.

Finally, we heard several loud gusts as Tropius began flapping its leaves. As it lifted off the ground, one of its hind legs smashed through the window, showering us in glass. I quickly reached forward and pulled the woman close to me, covering my face and hers. This was not just to protect her from the glass, but also to muffle the screams and cries that inevitably followed. Fortunately over the sound of its flying and the window crashing, Tropius didn't hear anything and flew away from the building.

After about a minute I felt a tapping on my shoulder. I lifted my head to see Cubone standing next to me. With a smile I gave him a hug and then stood up, brushing the glass off of myself. I looked down at the woman that I had been hiding with. She still looked stunned, and was cradling her Froakie in her arms. She then looked up at me, bits of glass falling out of her hair as she moved her head.

"Hunter Yamauchi." I said, extending my hand to her. She stared at me for a moment, and then brushed more glass off of herself. She took my hand, and I helped her get to her feet.

"Minny Proulx." she replied.

"Well Minny," I said looking down at her Pokémon, "why don't we get Froakie here somewhere more comfortable, and you can start telling me what happened to her."

Minny followed me upstairs where we placed Froakie in a small wicker basket with a cushion inside that Cubone used as his bed. As I checked the Pokémon, Minny explained how she and her Froakie were actually from Kalos, a region far north of Sinnoh. They were on their way to Eterna City to visit Minny's boyfriend when the outbreak occured. They spent the past two weeks trapped in the city, fighting off advances from hordes of undead Pokémon and people. She said that no matter where you turned or tried to go, you would end up hitting hordes of hundreds of them. After a long twenty-eight days, they somehow managed to make it out alive. They ended up in the west end of the city, and escaped into Eterna Forest.

This turned out to be a grave mistake. They had barely been in the forest five minutes before the ghost Pokémon began playing tricks on them. Pathways would appear or disappear around them, and they ended up walking around in circles. On top of this, the undead Pokémon were a constant threat. Minny nearly started to cry again as she described the horrifying sight of the undead Silcoon and Cascoon, the cocooned bug Pokémon. She said that the Silcoon would drop down from the trees on silk threads, while the Cascoon would roll out from underneath leaves on the forest floor. Many of the cocoons were cracked open, and out of them crawled what Minny described as horrifyingly deformed Wurmple. Wurmple, the worm Pokémon, normally would cocoon itself to later transform into either Beautifly or Dustox, the butterfly and moth Pokémon. These Wurmple had not finished their transformation, though, and instead were covered in mucus, with newly formed parts of their bodies falling off as they crawled out of their cocoons.

When Minny and Froakie finally managed to fight their way to the forest's exit, a cloud of black smoke appeared before them. The thick fumes swirled, and the temperature dropped until they could see their breath in the air. After a moment the cloud dissipated, revealing a Gengar, the mischievous ghost Pokémon. Its large round body stood between them and the exit, and Minny and Froakie looked around desperately for some way to pass through.

Behind them the undead forest Pokémon were inching closer, and it soon dawned on them that if they were going to make it out alive they would have to fight the Gengar that was blocking their way. Minny turned to see Froakie at the ready, also having realized that the only option was to fight. The battle that followed was a fierce one, and though Froakie was not evolved like the Gengar, she was well trained. It became obvious that Minny and Froakie would win the battle. As Froakie launched her final water gun, a strange light surrounded both Pokémon. Minny remembered it looked very ominous, as if two massive spotlights were shining down on them.

There was no time to pause, though, and Minny commanded Froakie to finish the Gengar off. As the blast of water hit the Gengar, it fell to the ground with a loud groan. Minny let out a cheer, ready to make a run for the forest exit, when Froakie turned to face her. The Pokémon's eyes were half closed, and with one deep breath she collapsed.

"So I scooped her up and just ran..." Minny said, wiping tears from her eyes, "Just as I left the forest I saw this house, and it looked like someone lived here so... I just ran up and started knocking." I looked down at the small frog Pokémon laying in Cubone's bed. Placing one hand on the Froakie's chest, I felt her slow breathing and her heart beating. I then looked up at Minny with a smile.

"Froakie's going to be just fine." I said, "It sounds like she got hit with a Destiny Bond: those spotlights you saw. I have a revive we can give her, that should deal with most of it. I'm all out of Potions though, so she'll need to rest until her injuries can heal properly." Destiny Bond was a move common to many ghost Pokémon. If the Pokémon who used Destiny Bond was knocked out shortly after, whatever knocked them out would also fall unconscious. A nasty trick, but one that was easy enough to deal with. Minny's face lit up as she heard my words, and with a huge smile she stepped over to me and gave me a hug.

"Thank you so much! I don't know what I would do if anything happened to my Froakie!" she exclaimed.

I froze. It had been a while since any trainers had come through and, more importantly, I certainly hadn't been hugged by anyone in a long time. As I hugged Minny, I couldn't help but feel safe. For weeks the only sensations of other people I had were fleeting. Distant and in passing. I remember the smell of that hug. After spending so long dealing with corpses, whether they were ones that were walking or ones we had to dispose of, the smell of this hug meant so much. She smelled alive. She smelled like life.

That night Minny, Cubone, and I decided to camp out in my room. We covered the floor in what blankets and pillows we could find, and let Froakie stay in Cubone's bed nearby. We shut all of the windows and blinds and lit a candle, trying to make sure it wasn't so bright that it would attract attention from outside. We decided to treat our guest to some of the better food we had been saving for just such an occasion, and even opened a bottle of wine I had received as a gift from a gym leader before the outbreak had occurred.

Of course, our better food was simply better in comparison to the diet of berries we had been living off of. A few cans of beans and corn, and some crackers and dip that we had been able to keep frozen for a while. It wasn't long before Cubone had fallen asleep, and Minny and I started talking about our lives before the virus.

"This is a really nice place," Minny said with a smile. "You must have had a lot of people coming through here."

"Yeah, we had all kinds of people come to this daycare. Thanks to my work with Professor Rowan, mostly. Knowing a famous Pokémon professor really helps you build a reputation quickly."

"I guess that would be true!" she replied.

"You said you were from Kalos, right?"

Minny smiled and nodded.

"I am! Do you know a lot of people from Kalos?" she asked.

"Well, not personally, but I met people from a lot of different places running the daycare."

"It's really beautiful! Everyone is so fashionable, and we have a lot of old castles and stuff that you can visit. I can't wait to get back there and..." Minny paused and her happy expression faded as she said, "Right, I... I keep forgetting that there probably isn't anything to go back to, huh?"

We both looked down and sat silently for a moment. Cubone was sleeping quietly next to me. He had rolled over onto his back, and despite being asleep still had a firm grasp on his club. He had gotten tangled in the blanket he was sleeping under and pushed it off of himself completely. With a chuckle I pulled the blanket out from under him and then wrapped him up in it again.

"It must be rough," I said, finally breaking the silence. "being so far from home. I'm really sorry."

"Thank you Hunter." Minny replied, "For everything, I mean. I'm lucky that this daycare is here and so well protected. And that someone was still here."

"Speaking of here, what brought you and Froakie to Sinnoh?" Again Minny's happy expression faded. I felt a pang in my stomach realizing that I had triggered some bad memory for her.

"Uh, sorry, you don't have to talk about that if you don't want to..." I said, trying not to stutter.

"No, no it's fine," Minny replied, "I'm sorry, it's just... hard to talk about." She fell silent again, this time looking over at the bed Froakie was laying in. As she looked over at her Pokémon, she reached to her chest and wrapped her hand around a locket she was wearing around her neck. She then turned back to me and opened it. Inside was a picture of her, Froakie, and a man who looked about the same age as us.

"That's my boyfriend, Michi. He was from Sinnoh, but his parents sent him to Kalos to go to school. He was from a wealthy family and they wanted him to get the best education he could. When he was very young they sent him to boarding school there, and we actually met on a playground when we were ten." Minny closed the locket, took a sip of her wine, and then continued, "When he was done school, though, his parents expected him to come back here to help take on the family business. His father was sick and they had three other children who they couldn't afford to keep sending to boarding school, so they all had to move back. By that time we were already crazy about each other. That was two years ago, and I had finally saved up the money I needed to come and see him. When we reached Snowpoint City, though, the outbreak had already started. Froakie and I fought our way to Eterna City where Michi lived... but... when we got there..."

I could see tears building up in Minny's eyes. I reached over and held her hand. Two tears rolled down her cheeks and she lifted her wine glass to her mouth.

"I'm really sorry Minny. It must have been really hard to lose someone you had known for so long."

"Thanks..." Minny said, letting go of my hand and wiping the tears from her face. After a short pause she asked, "So how about you? You must have had friends, family... before all of this? Or employees or a girlfriend or something?"

"Sort of..." I said with a shrug, "My parents both died when I was young. No siblings or anything, and no real connection to my extended family. I had to go live with an uncle for a while, but I didn't really like him. I was always getting into trouble, running away a lot. Until I started studying Pokémon. That's really when everything changed for me. When I got the chance to work with Professor Rowan I had no problem moving away. I guess you could say I made friends with my coworkers during that time, but we weren't really close. I guess I've been a bit of a loner."

"Oh..." Minny replied, sounding a bit sad.

"I did have two employees though. They both became really good friends of mine, even though they worked for me. Very passionate about Pokémon, and they had really nice families. One of them, Akane... she and her Pokémon were the first I witnessed get infected. I have no idea what happened to Hayato though."

"Sounds like you didn't know too many people," Minny said, "which I guess is a good thing in a way. Considering the state the world is in now."

"I suppose that's true," I replied, "You know... there was one other person. He..." I paused, feeling myself starting to blush.

"What is it?" Minny said, intrigued, "You can't stop there!"

With a laugh I continued, "Well, a few months back a Pokémon Ranger moved in just inside the forest there. You may have seen his cabin on your way out."

"I think I remember seeing that! So, what about him?"

"Well, he had moved in because this area was in need of a Ranger. Every so often he would come by to have me check on his Pokémon, but the more we got to talking..."

I didn't notice that I had stopped talking, as a strange feeling came over me. My relationship with the Ranger had never been anything serious, we hadn't even gone on a single date. Yet talking about him then was the first time I had really thought about how normal my life was before the outbreak, and how much I had actually lost. Despite the dangers of this new world, I hadn't thought about how different things were. Cubone and I had just been living our normal lives, for the most part. I was so used to being alone, I had forgotten what loneliness felt like.

"I'm so sorry," Minny said, "I didn't mean to ask something so personal. Are you okay?"

"Oh no! It's fine!" I said, snapping out of my daze. "It wasn't anything serious. It's just weird to think about, we were supposed to go on a date the day after all of this happened. Naturally, that never happened."

"What was his name? What happened to him?"

"Wade," I said with a smile, "and I have no idea. For all I know he could still be in that cabin."

"We really have lost so much, haven't we Hunter?" Minny asked, though it didn't sound like she expected an answer to the question. We stayed up talking for another half hour before finally deciding to get some sleep.

Since we had guests, we had already decided that we would take a day's break from berry farming and sleep in for a change. Cubone was happy to have the chance to sleep in, and this gave Minny time to rest after the ordeal she had been through. For the first time in months we slept until noon, and would have slept later were it not for the loud noise that started echoing through the house.

When I woke up, Cubone was sitting at the edge of my bed looking concerned. The noise of someone dry heaving kept echoing down the hall and into my room. I glanced over to see Froakie still asleep in Cubone's bed. I got up and, with Cubone at my side, took small steps down the hall and into the bathroom.

There we found Minny kneeling in front of the toilet. Her skin was pale and there was sweat running down her face. In between heaves she would cough and wheeze, until finally she looked to the door and saw Cubone and I watching her.

"Hunter..." she said, her voice barely a whisper, "Hunter, I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what? Minny, what's wrong?" I said, fearing that I already knew the answer.

Slowly Minny reached her right arm over to her left, and rolled up the sleeve of her shirt revealing a large wound on her arm. I sat on the floor next to her and took a closer look at the wound, which was full of puss and had dark purple and black bruising all around it.

"This almost looks like... a poison sting?" I said, confused.

"One of those... Silcoon in the forest hit me with it... before we got out of there. I figured it would be fine but..." Minny stopped speaking, interrupted by another series of coughs and heaves.

"This doesn't make sense though, humans shouldn't be affected by a poison sting attack. Sure they can be irritating but they shouldn't make you this sick!"

"No..." she replied, still struggling to speak while wheezing, "I've seen... it before... poison sting from the dead ones... is the same as a bite or a scratch. You still become one of them. Hunter, I'm becoming one of them."

I felt my heart sink. For the first time in months I had met someone that I really connected with and who I could see a good friendship forming with. I had even been considering asking Minny if she and Froakie would want to stay with us. That hope was gone. I was so stunned by the sight that I hadn't even noticed that Froakie was standing next to Cubone in the doorway to the bathroom. Tears were welling up in her eyes as she watched Minny coughing into the toilet.

Eventually the dry heaving stopped, and we moved Minny to my bed so she could sleep. As the evening passed, her skin grew pale and her temperature rapidly dropped. As her condition worsened, Froakie never left her side. She refused to eat or drink anything. All she would do was sit at the foot of the bed, staring at Minny. I did my best to treat her wound, but I knew that there was no cure for this infection. I dreaded to think about what we would ultimately have to do. Cubone was standing next to the bed, intently watching Minny in her declining state. Though it looked like he was watching over her, just like Froakie, I could see that his hand was firmly grasping his bone club. He knew what was going to happen, and was preparing to deal with it when the time came.

It was close to midnight when Minny woke up in a fit of coughs and wheezes. When she finally managed to stop, she looked at the foot of the bed to see Froakie standing strong. With a weak smile Minny reached out her arms, and Froakie hopped forward to meet her embrace. As she hugged her Pokémon, Minny reached out her arm and held my hand.

"Froakie, I'm so sorry. I know this is going to be hard to hear..." Minny said, struggling to speak, "but you need to stay... with Hunter and Cubone now. Hunter will take good care of you. He knows a lot about Pokémon, but most of all... he's a good person. He and Cubone could use... your help too. They're going to need you to make... some really hard decisions. When that day comes just know... that I'll always be with you."

Froakie was trying to stay strong as Minny spoke, wiping tears from her eyes so Minny wouldn't see her crying. Reaching under her shirt, Minny removed the locket she had shown me the night before and handed it to her Pokémon. Froakie put the necklace around her neck and tucked it away in her bubble mane, the puffy white bubbles most Froakies have around their necks. Minny laid back and gripped my hand again. She looked up at me with a frown and tried to speak, but no words came out. I could tell by the look on her face that she wanted to know if I would take care of Froakie, and I reassured her that I would. After a few seconds, though, she closed her eyes and her hand slid out of mine.

"Minny?" I whispered, touching her shoulder. She had stopped breathing. I lifted her arm and looked for a pulse in her wrist. Froakie buried her head into the blankets and started to cry.

"I... I think she's gone." I said, looking up at Cubone. He was standing on a chair next to the bed, with his bone club raised in the air. Tears were welling up in his eyes and he was hyperventilating. He could only hold the pose for a few seconds though. He fell back into the chair, dropping the bone club onto the bed.

Unable to find a pulse, I placed Minny's arm back onto the bed. As her hand hit the mattress, her entire upper body swung into an upright position. Out of instinct I jumped back. She moaned as she took a deep, laboured breath. Her eyes opened, revealing the whites of her eyeballs were red with blood. With a snarl she clawed at Cubone, who fell back knocking the chair he was sitting in onto the floor. Before I could react, Froakie saw the bone club sitting on the bed next to her. With a quick hop she grabbed the club and swung.

With a crack the wide end of the club buried into Minny's temple. The force of the blow thrust her body and Froakie onto the floor. I quickly scooped Froakie up into my arms and backed away from Minny. Her body twitched for a moment, and then stopped moving. Froakie shook violently in my arms, burying her head in my chest so she couldn't see.

Trying to be as quiet as possible, I shuffled to the other side of the room where Cubone had fallen. He was back on his feet and looked unharmed. We stood in silence, expecting Minny to wake up and attack again. After a few minutes had passed, I placed Froakie down on the floor with Cubone and walked back around the bed to Minny's body. I reached down and pulled Cubone's club out of her head, and grabbed a sheet off the bed and covered her body with it. It was too late to go outside and bury her. Not wanting to sleep in the room with her body, we grabbed some pillows and blankets and all slept in the hallway. At least we tried to sleep, anyway. Truth be told, I stayed awake for the rest of the night, unable to get the image of her lifeless body on the floor out of my head. Cubone and Froakie couldn't sleep either. Every time I looked over at where they were laying on the floor I could see them both wide awake, staring up at the ceiling. Froakie looked like she was fighting back tears, occasionally letting out a low whimper. Cubone was laying close to the bedroom door, listening for any movement within.

We stayed like that until morning came. I listened as Tropius made its usual flight. When it had finally passed we got up and carried Minny's body out to the backyard and buried her there. Froakie stood next to me, holding on to my leg. Cubone went to a nearby tree and used his bone club to knock down some large branches. He fashioned them into a cross and stuck it in the ground where we buried Minny.

"I know you don't really know us..." I said, kneeling down to pick Froakie up, "but I promise we can take care of each other. If you want to stay with us..."

Before I could finish Froakie nodded and hopped out of my arms. Lying next to me was the backpack Minny had been wearing when she and Froakie first arrived at my house. Froakie dug around inside until she found a strangely coloured Pokéball. It was a luxury ball, black with orange horizontal lines. She extended her legs and handed it to me.

"This... is yours?" I asked, looking down at her. She nodded, and hopped back up into my arms. I attached the ball to my belt next to Cubone's, and the three of us went back inside.

Later that afternoon we were eating when we heard a knock at the door. With Cubone and Froakie behind me I turned the knob and pulled the door open. Standing on the porch was a man with dark skin and long black hair. He was wearing a red vest with a long sleeved black shirt underneath, and black gloves. He also had a matching red belt, hat, boots, and black pants. The uniform of a Pokémon Ranger.

"Hunter I... didn't think you would still be here." he said. It had been so long since we had seen each other, that I didn't recognize him at first. After a moment though, I realized who it was. The Pokémon Ranger that had been living in Eterna Forest.

Wade Goodridge.


	3. Chapter 2: Deadline

**Chapter 2**

 **Deadline**

I was so surprised to see Wade that it took me a moment to notice that he was shaking. I looked down to see an Eevee pop its head out from behind his legs. "We... have a lot to talk about..." Wade said, his voice wavering as he tried to maintain his composure. I invited them inside, but then suddenly thought about what happened to Minny. I grabbed Wade's shoulder and stopped him.

"Are you bitten?" I said abruptly, surprising him.

"Uh... no, no I'm not." I looked Wade up and down closely.

"Are you sure?" I asked sternly.

"Yes, I promise Hunter. Please, you have to hear me out." I nodded and let go, letting him and Eevee into the house. "I'm sorry Hunter, but we have to go. Right now." He walked into the kitchen and started looking through the cupboards, seeing what food we had stored. I followed him in and told him to tell me what was going on. Cubone and Froakie stood in the archway to the kitchen, watching intently.

"I was trapped," he said, still digging through my cupboards. "I was stuck in that damn city this entire time. It was awful, my group was barely surviving day to day. But we have to go. They found a way out, and they are coming this way. This house won't stand." Before I could reply, Wade ran into the living room and started searching through any container he could find.

"Wade stop it!" I yelled, "Calm down, and tell me what the hell is going on! You're scaring my Pokémon and you're scaring me." Once I stopped, I noticed something pushing on my leg. Looking down I saw Eevee gently headbutting me, trying to shove me away. Wade smirked and I stepped back.

"It's okay Eevee" he said, scooping the Pokémon up off the ground, "he's right." With Eevee in his arms he walked into the living room and sat on the couch. Cubone, Froakie, and I sat down with them. The Eevee happily rubbed its head up against Wade's arms and then sat down in his lap. Wade ran his fingers through Eevee's brown fur, and occasionally ruffled his bushy tail and beige mane. Every time he did, its long ears would perk up for a moment and then rest again. After Wade seemed relaxed, I walked to the couch and kneeled down in front of him.

"Can you tell me what's going on now?"

"I'm really sorry," Wade sighed. "You have no idea what it's been like stuck in that city. In a constant state of panic. It's still hard to relax and... there's trouble coming." I sat down on the couch next to him and asked him to explain.

He tried not to start crying as he told me how him and a few other people had managed to survive the month thanks to the effort of a very rare Pokémon. One of the trainers who was trapped in the city had an Espeon, a psychic-type evolution of Eevee. Normally purple, this special Espeon was a bright neon green colour. After its trainer died, Espeon took it upon herself to take care of the other people in the city, fighting off the undead and finding supplies for them. They were starting to run out of food, though, and needed to come up with a plan. They knew that several large trucks had crashed on the west end of the city and were blocking the road out of town.

Though it was a gamble, they felt there was a chance that the trucks may contain food or other supplies. The group decided that Wade, Espeon, and one other survivor would go and search the trucks. The only problem was that Espeon had recently given birth to a baby: the Eevee that Wade had with him. She refused to let the baby out of her sight, and so they decided they would have to bring Eevee along. When they reached the trucks, Espeon used her psychic abilities to confuse the infected that filled the nearby streets. This allowed Wade and the other survivor to safely search the cargo. Everything seemed to be going according to plan, until Wade heard a loud crash. One of the trucks had toppled over, with Eevee and the other survivor inside.

The sound of the crash caused some of the infected to break out of their confusion. Wade ran to the truck to find that his friend was dead. Eevee was unharmed, though, and he quickly picked him up. He then turned to see hundreds of undead stumbling toward them. Espeon ran to Wade's side and checked on her baby. They were surrounded, but the fallen truck had opened a path out of the city. With nowhere else to go, they decided that their only option was to leave.

As Wade told his story I realized that Espeon wasn't with them, so I asked him where she was. Eevee lowered his ears and looked up at Wade with a whimper. Wade explained that once they were a safe distance from the city, Espeon stopped. Somehow Wade knew that she wanted to go back to help the rest of their group. He told her they would find a way back, but in response she pushed Eevee into his arms. Though he didn't want to leave her behind, Wade understood what she was doing. She wanted to protect her baby, and they both knew that they wouldn't be able to get past the horde together. Espeon rubbed her head up against Eevee's and, before Wade could stop her, ran back toward Eterna.

"I didn't want to leave her behind," Wade said with tears in his eyes, "But that doesn't matter now. She'll be fine, I'm more worried about us. The horde is headed this way! We have to leave!" While Wade was telling his story I hadn't realized that the horde would be a problem for us. Though I felt worried about what a group of infected that large could do to our house, I could see that Wade still would not calm down. I knew that the only way we would be able to deal with this was if he relaxed and we thought of a plan.

"Okay, Wade, it's okay," I said, grabbing his hand, "You're a ranger. You're used to tracking and observing creatures. Stop and think. How much time do you think we have?" Wade closed his eyes as he considered what I said. He was still holding my hand in a tight grip as he took several deep breaths.

"Two days," he finally replied, "We might start to see some tomorrow evening. But with the forest between us, the rest of them shouldn't make it through for another two days. Gengar might buy us some more time, but I wouldn't depend on that. He can't fight them all off."

"You know about the Gengar?" I asked, shocked. Froakie also perked up when hearing the ghost Pokémon's name.

"Sort of. It was a Haunter that used to roam the forest before this mess. I don't know how it managed to evolve since the virus broke out, but... I'm glad it did. He even helped us out when we were coming through the forest just now. He may be a wild Pokémon, but living in the forest togeher we grew to respect one another."

I thought for a moment about what happened to Minny and Froakie. The Pokémon that Wade was describing sounded different from the one that had attacked them in the forest. Before I could ask any more questions, Wade asked if we were going to leave.

"Well... you said we could have up to two days. And we can't rush out there right now, it's about to get dark. So we need to rest tonight. Tomorrow we can start packing things up and figure out where to go. Then in two days we'll leave. Tropius is always flying around in the morning so we'll have to wait until it's gone, but right after that we can head out." I could hardly believe I was talking about leaving my home. Looking around the room, I thought about all of the Pokémon I had cared for there. All of the trainers I met. Then I looked down at Cubone and Froakie. Though it would hurt to leave my home behind, I knew I had to protect them. With Wade finally thinking clearly, we decided we should try and get some rest.

For the second day in a row, unexpected guests had shown up at my door, and for the second night in a row, I was staying up late talking to someone. Once again I covered the floor of my room with pillows and blankets, and we decided to all camp out there. Still being young, Eevee fell asleep on my bed almost instantly. To my surprise, Cubone managed to fall asleep right next to him while Wade, Froakie, and I sat on the floor near the bed. Talking seemed to help Wade clear his mind, and it wasn't long before we were chatting the same way we did before the outbreak.

"That Espeon in the city, Eevee's mother, sounded impressive," I said, trying to imagine what a green Espeon would look like. I had seen plenty of Espeon while running the daycare. They looked more like cats than Eevee, and had light purple fur. The most interesting detail on Espeon was the way their long slender tails were forked at the end, splitting into two smaller tails just at the end. These unique tails would shake when the Pokémon sensed an incoming attack or danger. Wade explained that it was Espeon's psychic abilities that kept their group alive for so long.

"She really is something. I hope the others are okay, and that I'll get to see them again." Wade smiled, and looked down at Froakie who was listening intently. He reached out his hand and petted Froakie's head. "You know, Hunter, you seem fascinated with the idea of a green Espeon, but this Pokémon you've inherited is special too." Froakie's eyes widened and she started to blush. Wade noticed this and patted her head. "Ah, didn't think we would notice, did you?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, staring at Froakie.

"See the way her skin is a paler blue than most other Froakie? I'm surprised you didn't notice already, daycare man." I was so distracted the previous day that I hadn't noticed, but once Wade pointed it out I started to see the difference. I had tried researching Pokémon with colour variations before, but there weren't many studies on the subject.

"I've heard a lot of stories about these kind of Pokémon," Wade continued, "but nothing really specific. A lot of people say they're more powerful than regular Pokémon. After seeing Espeon over the last month, I think I believe it."

"What does this mean for Froakie?" I asked.

"Well, when Froakie evolves into her last form, Greninja, that's when the difference will really be noticeable. Greninja are usually blue, but this kind of Froakie... when she evolves she's going to be entirely black. Greninja are already great at camouflage, but the black ones are even better at it." I looked down at Froakie, trying to imagine her as a Greninja four times the size she was then and entirely black. I thought about how fascinating it would be to see her evolve, but in the world we were living in that felt like an unrealistic goal. Froakie was less nervous and once again listening intently when Wade surprised her again.

"And that's not this Pokémon's only secret. She can change her type." He smiled and looked directly at Froakie, "Isn't that right?" This time I knew exactly what Wade was talking about. Protean, a rare genetic ability that only two Pokémon could be born with: Froakie, and the chameleon Pokémon Kecleon. When a Pokémon with Protean used an attack, it would change its elemental type to match that of the attack used. This not only made the attack itself more powerful, but could also be used strategically to give the Pokémon type advantages it normally didn't have. I could tell Froakie was starting to get nervous.

"I bet Minny told you not to tell anyone about that, didn't she?" I said with a smile, opening my arms for Froakie to hop over to me.

"That's understandable," Wade said, "with the way those criminal groups try to steal powerful Pokémon, Minny was smart to do that."

"Not much to worry about now, though." I said, patting Froakie's head, "We can keep your secret." Froakie seemed to think for a moment, and then pulled out the locket Minny gave her. She lifted it up and showed it to me. Wade asked what she was holding.

"I... think she wants to know about Gengar." I said, and then explained how Minny and Froakie had been trapped in the forest and were attacked by it before they could escape. Wade thought for a moment and then let out a sigh.

"I know this won't be what you want to hear Froaks, but... Gengar probably knew that Minny was infected. I've seen it before, in the city. I know the ghost Pokémon seem mischievous, and they still are sometimes. They seem to be determined to protect others though. They want to defend people from the virus, but they especially want to protect other Pokémon. Gengar probably knew Minny was infected and wanted to get you away from her."

Froakie looked down at her locket again for a moment, before tucking it away in her mane again. I asked if she was okay, and she looked up at me and nodded.

"I'm really sorry," Wade added, "I know that isn't the best explanation."

"That's okay, at least it's some explanation. Right Froakie?" Froakie quickly perked up and nodded at Wade. She then hopped up onto the bed and laid down close enough that she could still see us.

"I was surprised to see you were still here," Wade said, "Glad you are still here, of course, but I thought you would have left by now."

"We thought about it." I said, thinking about the early days of the outbreak, "But when people started showing up in need of help, we just figured it made more sense to keep the place running. Try and help who we could."

"That's just the type of person you are, isn't it? Always the good guy." Wade smiled at me.

"I guess so." I said, forcing a smile. Though Wade was just being nice, he didn't realize how much this subject was bothering me. Though we did end up deciding to stay in our daycare, the truth was that I was struggling every day, wondering if trying to help others was even worth it. What happened to Minny the day before made that feeling even worse.

"That was what I liked about you," he replied, "You always wanted to help people." My chest started to hurt as he kept talking. I wanted to change the subject, so I quickly suggested it was getting late and we should get to bed.

We slept on the floor, Wade only a few inches away from me. My chest and stomach felt so tight that I thought I would never get to sleep. I eventually managed to drift off, and before I knew it woke up to the sun shining in through the windows. Wade and the Pokémon were all gone, so I went downstairs to find them. The kitchen and the living room were both empty. I looked out the window at the berry garden, and still saw no one. Normally we would be as quiet as possible while in the house but, feeling panicked, I started to call out for them. After yelling a few times, I heard a noise upstairs.

I walked back up to my bedroom and stepped inside. Something on the bed was moving. It was underneath the blankets and wiggling. The closer I got to it, the larger it grew. Finally I was at the foot of the bed. Whatever it was stopped moving. I reached down and slowly pulled back the bedding. With tears in my eyes I fell back on the floor.

On the bed were Cubone and Froakie. Both had cuts and scratches all over their bodies. Their skin was pale and their eyes were vacant and lifeless. They were dead. Dead, but still moving. They crawled along the bed toward me, growling and snarling. I backed away slowly, unable to get up, when out of the corner of my eye I saw something in the doorway. Wade and Eevee were standing there, both of them also turned. Eevee's fur was ruffled and patches of it had been ripped out. Wade had large bites on his arms and legs. They both started shambling toward me, but I was paralyzed.

All I could do was look back and forth between the bed and the doorway as they all inched closer to me. I then felt my body move, all on its own, until I was facing away from them. I saw Minny sitting in front of me. Smiling and alive, looking as healthy as the day I met her. She leaned forward and grabbed my hand.

"Do you feel that Hunter?" she said, sliding her hand slowly up and down my arm. She leaned her head to the side and her smile faded. "Do you feel... anything... Hunter?"

She continued to rub my arm and started breathing heavily. She started repeating the same words over and over again.

"What do you feel, Hunter? What do you feel, Hunter?"

As she spoke she was shaking and twitching. Her skin started to rot and her skin started to fall off in chunks. Still, she managed to keep repeating the same phrase, over and over and over. My arm felt like it was on fire. Behind me I could still hear the others inching toward me, but I couldn't move. I heard a loud snarl as a pair of arms wrapped around my body. Minny then opened her mouth and lunged toward me.

I opened my eyes, and found myself still lying on the floor of my bedroom. The room was dark. I looked around frantically. Cubone, Froakie, and Eevee were all still asleep on the bed. Wade was next to me, and in his sleep he had moved closer and put his arm around me. He noticed me moving and started to wake up. He looked up at me, squinting.

"You okay Hunter? Did you have a nightmare or something?" Wade put his hand on my arm and started rubbing it slowly, just like Minny had done in my dream. I pushed his hand away and stood up, leaving the room. I walked downstairs to the kitchen to get some water. As I opened a bottle and started to drink, Wade walked into the room.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, it's nothing." I said, looking down at the floor, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to storm out of the room."

"It's not nothing, Hunter. Something was wrong earlier. What's going on with you?"

"I just had a bad dream, that's all."

"Well, do you want to talk about it?"

"No." I turned to look out the window. Wade sighed and then stood beside me.

"Look, I know we don't really know each other that well. I know it's weird. We haven't seen each other in a month and now we're suddenly in the same house sleeping next to each other on the floor. Hell, yesterday I was in Eterna City sleeping on an uncomfortable office couch. Now I'm here in a house I thought would be empty with someone I never expected to see again. But here we are. And from the look of things, we're probably going to be stuck together for a little while. So you can let your guard down. I know something was wrong before. You can talk to me about it."

Wade put his hand on mine. I knew he was right. We were likely going to be working together, at least for as long as we were dealing with getting away from the horde. Deep down, I knew I needed to talk to someone. Even before the outbreak I needed that. But I had always been on my own. I wasn't used to someone being there for me. That's why I worked so hard trying to take care of others. I pulled my hand away and stepped back.

"I can't let my guard down." I said, trembling, "You have no idea what it's been like. You may have been dealing with more of those monsters than we have. But you've had people. People to depend on! Cubone and I have been alone. Completely alone, running this place, by ourselves. How can I let my guard down? How can I stop and relax when Cubone and I only have each other to rely on?"

"Hunter, I know it's been hard," Wade said, "But you can't always be strong. Sometimes we need help."

"You know what? You're right. We don't know each other at all. When this first happened, and people showed up at our door, I wanted to turn them away. To tell them we couldn't help them. Yet here you are, talking about how I'm the good guy and that's just who I am. But I tried not to be. I wanted to be someone else. Someone who could have told people to leave. And part of me still wishes I could have done it."

"You can't blame yourself for that, Hunter." Wade said, sounding frustrated, "You didn't know any better. What's happening out there is unbelievable, of course you wanted to do anything you could to survive. But like you said, you couldn't do it. You had to help people, because that is who you are."

"Maybe," I replied, "But I am so angry at myself for it. Which makes me angry for even feeling that way. And look what happens when I help. I let people in, just to lose them. Do you think I wanted to bring Minny in here to watch her die? To really talk to someone for the first time in weeks, just to be burying their body in my yard the next day? That's what happens when I get close to people. I lose them. So no, I will not let my guard down and I don't want to talk. When this started, I had to be strong. Then when people started showing up at our door needing help, I had to become stronger. I don't know how I did it, it just happened. Somehow I found the strength. And now I am terrified that if I stop being strong, I won't know how to start again."

Looking out the window, I could see the moon was low in the sky. With a deep breath I started to walk out of the room. "We should get back to sleep," I said, stopping in the doorway to the kitchen, "We just have a few more hours before we need to start packing."

Before Wade could reply I went back upstairs and laid back down on the floor. I kept my back facing away from where he had been sleeping earlier. After a few moments I heard him come back into the room and lay down, further away from me than he had been before we woke up. Though I felt angry, I knew I wasn't really angry with Wade. He was only trying to help. Someone trying to help me for a change, and I had pushed him away. I stayed awake, looking at the window.

After a while I could hear Wade snoring gently. I rolled over and looked at him. He was laying on his back, and shook a bit when he snored. I moved over until I was right beside him, and rested my head on the pillow next to his. In his sleep, he turned toward me and put his arm around my waist. Before long, I managed to fall asleep.

The next morning we slept in, but managed to catch up on our work with the help of our Pokémon. First we determined which supplies we had and how much we could carry. Cubone, Froakie, and Eevee were all still rather small, so having them carrying a lot would be out of the question. We managed to make some small bundles with seeds for them to each wear on their backs, so that we would have the potential to grow more berries if we found a place to settle down. Wade and I would still have to do the majority of the lifting. We filled two large backpacks with first aid supplies and non-perishable foods.

We also planned the route we would be taking. Heading north into the forest and toward the city wasn't an option. Instead, we planned to head south to Floaroma Town. Just before the town there was a bridge that crossed over a river. It was a small and mostly made of wood, so we decided that our best chance was to destroy it as we crossed. The river would prevent the horde from advancing much further, and we would be able to rest in Floaroma Town for a while. With everything prepared we decided to have dinner. Wade and I were preparing some food when I heard a sound outside.

"That... isn't possible..." I said, walking to the kitchen window and looking outside.

"What is it?" Wade asked.

"I can hear..." I trailed off as I looked outside and saw Tropius hovering around the entrance to Eterna Forest. Wade came to the window. "I thought you said it's usually gone by noon. What is it still doing here?" he said. I shrugged and continued to watch it. Suddenly, we heard an unfamiliar cry come from the living room.

We quickly ran in to find Froakie holding on to Eevee, who was shivering. Cubone was standing at the window with his bone club risen in the air. The curtains were open, and on the other side of the glass stood what appeared to be the fire type Pokémon, Ponyta. Normally they had flames coming out of their back and legs, but this one's flames had died out. It looked like a small white horse, and was missing both of its eyes. The barren sockets were rotted and full of dirt and maggots. It was sniffing the air and pacing in circles in front of the window. Clearly it could not see us.

"It's okay guys, step away from the window." I said, quietly stepping toward them to pick them up, "I don't understand though. There aren't any Ponyta around here. They're normally only found on Route 206." Wade pointed out the window. On the other side of the path opposite our house the tall grass began to ruffle. Three more dead Ponyta stepped out from the reeds. Wade put his hand on my shoulder.

"Hunter. They're here."

Tropius let out a loud roar, and we looked over to where it was standing. Hundreds of dead Pokémon started to step out from between the trees. Before we could react, the Ponyta outside of our house kicked its hinds legs up, smashing our window. The three on the opposite side of the path heard the noise and saw all of us standing in our living room.

"Back door!" I yelled, "Now!"

We let our Pokémon through first and they ran toward the back door of the house. Wade and I then turned to run just as all four Ponyta jumped through the window and into the living room. We reached the back door where Cubone, Froakie, and Eevee already had their seed satchels on. Wade and I grabbed our backpacks and ran to the backyard. Two of the Ponyta were running down the hallway just as I slammed the door behind us. "That won't hold," Wade said, as we heard them start kicking the door, "We have to go."

"Okay everyone," I said, looking down at the Pokémon, "I know the plan was to go through the tall grass, but clearly there may be undead in there. We stick to the path and move quickly. Try not to stop to fight anything unless you absolutely have to."

"Eevee, I can carry you for now if you need me to." Wade said. Eevee was shivering, but with a determined look he shook his head no. We heard another kick at the door and saw it beginning to splinter at the hinges. I grabbed my backpack and waved my hand. "Let's go! Same formation we planned."

We made our way around the house and started running down the path. Wade was at the head of the group, followed by Cubone and Eevee. I was at the back while Froakie, who could jump further than any of us could step, was hopping beside the line. The horde was still far off and Tropius hadn't noticed us yet, but behind us we could hear Ponyta galloping in pursuit. One leapt into the tall grass beside us and quickly made its way to the front of our line. It jumped out a few feet ahead of us and stopped.

Cubone snapped his fingers, signaling Froakie to jump to him. She picked him up and leapt into the air. At the pinnacle of their jump, Cubone threw his bone club. It flew past Wade and struck Ponyta in the head. Froakie and Cubone landed and jumped again as the club started flying back toward us. Cubone grabbed it in the air and they landed safely on the ground again. We continued running, moving slightly to avoid the Ponyta's body.

My shoulder rustled the tall grass and a Kricketot jumped out at me. I jumped backward to avoid it landing on me and stopped moving. Eevee noticed, and quickly launched a headbutt from behind. It fell to the ground in front of me. Before it could react I stomped on its head. It let out a screech as I crushed its skull, and the rest of the group stopped and turned around. Behind us more Ponyta were fast approaching.

"Don't stop!" I yelled, and we all started running again. "I can see the bridge up ahead!"

We finally reached the bridge. Next we needed to cross it and tear it down. Froakie grabbed Eevee and jumped across the river to the other side. Wade and I both ran across and took out the saw I had in my bag. On both sides of the bridge there were large posts supporting it. We started sawing one of them while Cubone crossed the bridge. He started smashing the boards behind him as he passed. When he reached our side we had managed to take down one post, and already parts of the bridge were falling into the river and floating away. With Cubone's help, we managed to take the second one down even faster. The last of the bridge either floated away or sank, but there was no time to relax. Two more Ponyta were still persuing us. What's worse was that we were so distracted while running that we didn't notice Tropius taking flight. He had seen us and was headed our way.

We backed away from the river as far as possible. When the Ponyta reached the edge they jumped across the water in a single bound and continued charging at us. Immediately Froakie used her Water Pulse attack, launching rings of water at one of the Ponyta. Eevee used his move, Swift, launching star shaped rays of light at the other. Though these were not enough to damage their skulls, the attacks distracted the Pokémon. They stumbled back and looked around in confusion. While they were dazed, Cubone launched his bone club. It flew in an arc in front of us, hitting both Ponyta and killing them. Froakie and Eevee stopped their attacks. "Quickly, into town!" I shouted. We turned to run to Floaroma, but saw Tropius fly across the river and land on the path directly in front of us.

"Dammit, why now?" I said under my breath, and then turned to the others, "I know we didn't plan for this, but it's blocking our path. We have no choice, we're going to have to fight it. Are you ready?" The Pokémon all nodded, but then Wade pointed behind me with a smile.

"Actually, we may not have to."

I turned back around to where Tropius was standing and saw a cloud of purple smoke in front of it. The smoke began to swirl and form into a sphere. It then dissipated and revealed Gengar standing on the path and looking at us. With a big smile on his face he winked and started to laugh. As he did, six purple clouds appeared around Tropius, whose head jerked back and forth watching as the clouds floated in circles around it. Gengar stopped laughing and turned to face Tropius. He then extended his arms in front of him and formed a large black and purple ball in his palms. The clouds began to form similar balls in front of them.

"Those must be Gastly from the forest," Wade yelled, "They're using Shadow Ball!" As Wade said this, black orbs with large eyes and wide grins appeared within each of the purple clouds. These were indeed a group of Gastly. They started to launch their Shadow Ball attacks at Tropius, who screeched as the orbs hit every part of its body. They then started to move, pushing Tropius until it reached the edge of the water and fell in. We ran past them and up to the gate to Floaroma Town.

We looked back to see Tropius drag itself out of the river on the other side. It tried to flap its leaves but they were too wet for it to take flight. The Gastly continued to chase it as it tried to run away, limping back down Route 205. Gengar remained behind and watched, laughing as the group disappeared from sight.

"Gengar, you saved us!" Wade exlaimed as we all ran over to see our savior. Gengar turned and flashed us a wide grin.

"You can come with us, if you want," I said, "Things look like they're going to be rough around here for a while." Gengar shook its head and looked back toward Eterna Forest.

"You probably want to stay here in case others come through here needing your help, don't you?" Wade said, and Gengar nodded. "I figured. Seems like a lot of folks around Route 205 just love to help other people out." Wade grinned at me and then extended his hand to Gengar. The Pokémon reached out and they shook hands.

"I hope we meet again someday." I said with a smile, then got up to head toward the town. As we started walking away, I noticed that Froakie still hadn't moved. She was standing in front of Gengar and had taken out her locket and was looking at the picture inside. She then looked up at him, and the two stared at each other for a moment. Tucking her locket back into her mane, Froakie extended her arm. Gengar reached out and shook her hand. He then winked at us and disappeared in a cloud of smoke.

Cubone and I had been to Floaroma Town enough times to have noticed that the Pokémon Center was fortified by someone early on in the outbreak, but was later abandoned. With the horde slowed down and night falling we decided to head there to rest for the night. The normally automatic doors had been rigged to stay shut, so first we needed to pry them open. Once we got in, we quickly turned to make sure they closed properly. We had just managed to get them tightly shut when we heard a click behind us.

"Don't come any closer!" we heard someone yell, "Just turn around! Slowly." We all turned and saw a woman holding a rather large gun. Wade and I both raised out hands. The woman was in a towel and her hair was wet. On the floor beside her was a Shieldon. It had a yellow body and four small legs. It's gray metallic head was tall, round, and flat. It watched us intently.

"Look," Wade said softly, "We were just looking for a place to stay. We don't want any trouble." She chuckled and pointed her gun at him. On a chair behind her, I noticed that some clothes were laid out: a long sleeved black shirt and black pants. The shirt had a large red "R" across the chest.

"Well, that's a shame honey," she said with a smile, "Hasn't anyone ever told you? You should always be prepared for trouble."


	4. Chapter 3: Black Sheep

**Chapter 3**

 **Black Sheep**

"I suggest you get that door open and get the hell out of here."

"No," Wade said, still staring at the gun, "It is pitch dark outside, we won't even be able to find our way around."

"That's not really my problem, is it?" she replied, taking a step closer to him.

"Lady, we have nowhere to go. We're not here to cause any problems, we just need a place to stay. We've got food and water. We can share, then in the morning we'll be gone."

"Do you think I need help from you?" she yelled. She glared angrily for a moment, but then heard the Shieldon at her feet let out a weak cry. The woman sighed and started to look distressed. I noticed that the Pokémon looked unwell. Its eyes were half closed, and it was standing with its body low to the ground. I asked if he was okay.

"What's it to ya?" she yelled, shifting her aim to me.

"I just... it... it looks kind of sick? We have medical supplies, we might be able to help." She started to look nervous, and her eyes shifted to take a quick glance down at Shieldon. Wade took a step forward and she quickly pointed the gun back at him.

"Don't you move another inch!" she yelled, "How do I know I can trust you people? Everyone else I've met attacked us me. All because of that uniform. How do we know you won't just hurt us when our guard is down?" I tried to think of what I could say to comfort her, but before I could Wade spoke up.

"You can trust us, because I know that you don't have any ammo for that gun." The woman's eyes bulged and her hand started to shake. "If we wanted to hurt you, I could have just taken it from you already." The woman looked flustered. She took another step forward so that the gun was barely an inch away from Wade's face.

"That's Tauros crap! You can't know that just by looking at it. Don't make me do something you'll regret." Wade smirked and then explained that he had seen guns similar to that model when he was growing up in the Orre region. He noted that there was a small tab at the back of the gun that would be in an upright position if the gun were loaded. Looking over the gun she saw that it was facing downward. With tears welling up in her eyes she backed away from Wade, picked Shieldon up off the floor, and threw her gun down.

"Please, take whatever you want. I don't care. Just don't hurt us." She started crying and held her Pokémon close to her. Although it felt weird to try and prove myself to a member of Team Rocket, seeing that all she wanted to do was protect her Pokémon made me feel sympathy for her. I kneeled down and removed my backpack and took out a small container.

"Your Shieldon looks pretty tough," I said, taking some berries out of the box, "I bet he would really like Apicot berries! What do you think buddy?" The Shieldon saw the food in my hand and let out a quiet but happy cry. The woman still looked unimpressed.

"How do I know those won't hurt him?" she asked. In response I grabbed one of the berries and tossed it in my mouth. I squinted my eyes at tasting the flavour, then opened my mouth to show her that I swallowed it.

"I may not like sour food, but I wouldn't have eaten it if it were poisonous, would I?" The woman approached me and cautiously let her Shieldon smell the berries. She asked him if he thought they were okay. The Pokémon hummed happily and looked up at her. She reached her hand out and I gave her the fruit. We stood quietly as she let him eat, still holding him close. Once he finished she turned back to us.

"You... said you had medicine? Do you think you can figure out what's wrong with him?" I explained that I wasn't a doctor, but used to run the daycare on Route 205. "Okay," she said, sounding a bit defeated, "Come in."

I picked up my backpack and stepped away from the door and the others followed behind me. The room was dark, but there were some dim flourescent lights that made it possible to get around without bumping into anything. I placed my backpack on the counter next to the woman and started looking for my first aid supplies.

"Is there any way to get the lights on in here?" I asked, "I'm going to need more light than this to examine him closely." The woman shook her head and explained that there was no way to turn on the building's lights without turning them all on. That meant the signs and lights outside would also be activated. She had already seen once how much attention that attracted.

"There is one room with a light though! There's an operating table with a nice bright lamp attached to it that we can switch on." I told her that would be ideal and that we should get set up there. She smiled, and then looked down at her towel. "Oh Krabbies!" she yelled, "I completely forgot I was standing here with no clothes on. Let me get changed first."

"No worries," Wade said, laughing. "I'm Wade Goodridge by the way. The daycare man there is Hunter Yamauchi."

"My name is Sahicko," she said, "Sachiko Tachibana. My friends call me Lucky."

"Lucky it is then." I said. She smiled and then left the room. Wade put his backpack down beside me, then picked up Eevee and sat him down on the counter. Froakie hopped up next to him, and Cubone was looking around the lobby.

"What do you think?" Wade asked, "About our new... friend, here, I mean?"

"She seems fine, I think. A bit intense, but she was just looking out for her and her Pokémon's safety."

"What about the uniform?"

"I don't know... but we don't have an alternative right now, do we?"

"I guess not." Wade said with a sigh. I set out a few of our medical supplies on the counter when I heard Cubone growling. We turned to see him staring down one of the hallways out of the lobby. Wade and I walked over and looked down the hall but saw nothing. I asked Cubone if he was okay. He looked up at me and then pointed down the hallway. We waited a moment and still saw nothing. I told Wade to stay with Froakie and Eevee while Cubone and I went to see what was down the hall.

It was very dark. The lights in the cieling were even dimmer than the ones in the lobby. We passed a few open rooms before coming to a closed door. Cubone stopped in front of it and gripped his bone club tightly beside him. There was no noise coming from the other side of the door and no way of seeing into the room beyond. He seemed certain there was something on the other side. I started to reach for the doorknob when a voice stopped me.

"No!" Lucky came running down the hallway and grabbed my hand, "You can't go in there!" She was in her rocket uniform, which she had altered so that the neck, arms, and legs weren't as tight as the ones I had seen in pictures. As she yelled, I started to hear scratching noises from the other side of the door. I asked her what was on the other side, picking up Cubone and backing away.

"Sorry," she said, taking a deep breath, "You do not want to open that door. Come back to the lobby and I'll explain."

We walked back in to find Eevee and Froakie still sitting on the counter and Wade standing in front of them. Seeing us come in he walked over and placed a hand on my shoulder. "You okay there, daycare?" he said with a smile. His hand felt warm on my shoulder and for a second I smiled back at him. I put my hand on his, but then felt a sudden tension in my stomach. I quickly took a step back.

"Uh, yeah, I'm fine." I said awkwardly, trying to force a smile. I then turned to Lucky to ask what was in the room she had pulled us away from.

"When I first got here three days ago, I took a look around to get a feel for the place," she explained, "That door was the only one closed, and it was locked too. I found a key in the desk here and decided to try it out. When I opened the door, inside I found... people."

"People? There are people in there?" I asked, confused.

"Dead people." she added, "I think there are about ten of them in there. All walking around. They were making a lot of noise at first but are generally quiet now. Shieldon and I stay in the rooms on the other side of the building though, just to be safe."

I started to think about whether or not coming to this building was a good idea. Wade looked concerned as well. I wondered how we were going to be able to get any rest knowing that there were monsters just a few hallways away from us, and asked Lucky if she had experienced any problems keeping them contained while she was staying there. She said that none of them had broken free, and Wade turned to me and shrugged his shoulders. "Well, what other choice do we have?"

I nodded my head, but was still contemplating the situation. Then I noticed that Lucky didn't have Shieldon with her, so I asked where he was. "He's in that room I was telling you about," she replied, "He was tired so I let him lay down on the operating table. Can you come look at him now?"

"Absolutely. We're all pretty tired though. Is there anywhere my friends can rest while we go look at him?"

"Of course love! There are some rooms with beds really close to the operating room. I'll show you."

Lucky led us to a room near the back of the building where there were spare sleeping bags and cushions. While Wade started setting up beds for us, she took me to see Shieldon. He looked like he was almost asleep when he saw us enter the operating room. At the sight of Lucky he perked up. We walked over to the table and she patted his back, which made him smile. I placed my first aid supplies next to him and Lucky turned on the lamp above the table. As I examined Shieldon I decided to ask Lucky more about her situation.

"So when you mentioned getting here, you made it sound like you got here alone. Did you not have Shieldon a few days ago?"

"No," she replied, sounding sad, "A few days before I reached this town my Pokémon... got bitten. We were barely into the town when she turned. Later I managed to get in here and found this guy hiding in one of those sleeping bags. He was pretty scared and weak. I don't think he had eaten anything or had any water for a while. Once I got him some food I noticed that he seemed... sick."

"Not sick, actually. Injured. See these slight indents here?" I said, pointing at some marks on Shieldon's head, "Someone was in a fight before you found him. Looks like something tried to bite him, and he headbutted something pretty hard too."

"A bite! He hasn't turned though. Is he going to turn?" she asked.

"I don't think so. He would have been really sick and probably turned by now. Luckily the skin on his head is very strong. Something tried to bite him but couldn't actually pierce through." Lucky breathed a sigh of relief, but then gasped.

"Wait! Shieldon... your trainer... is he the one who...?" Shieldon wimpered and looked away from us. I asked Lucky what she was talking about. She told me that when she found the Pokémon she also found the dead body of his trainer in the same room. It was clear he had turned, but something had bashed his head in. She found Shieldon's Pokéball on the man's belt. Shieldon was still looking away from us and had tears in his eyes. I reached down and gently patted its back.

"It's okay buddy." I said softly, "You didn't do anything wrong. You're safe now." Shieldon smiled as Lucky wiped the tears from his face. Then I noticed that his front left leg looked a bit swollen.

"Looks like that's injured too," I said, pointing at it, "I'm going to have to feel if its broken but... it might hurt a bit."

"Can you handle that Shieldon?" Lucky asked. He looked a bit scared but nodded. He grunted as I felt the leg for a few minutes. I let go and Lucky asked what I thought.

"Well, it's not broken. Might be a fracture, but its probably just a sprain." I picked up a bottle of potion from the supplies I placed on the table. "I'm going to apply some of this potion to his wounds, but for his injuries to heal fully I'm going to have to bandage him up too." Lucky nodded and I sprayed his head and leg with some potion. I then gently wrapped them with cloth bandages. When we finished Lucky picked him up and walked with me back to the room where the others were.

"Thank you so much, Hunter," she said with a smile, "I'm sorry about before. I was so afraid you were going to steal from us. Some people yesterday took a bunch of things from here. That's where I got that gun, actually. One of them left it behind by accident... but there were no bullets."

"Don't worry about it," I said with a smile, "let's just get some rest and figure out what we're doing tomorrow."

"Are you sure you're okay with... well..." she gestured toward the big "R" on her shirt. I shrugged my shoulders and told her I wasn't sure what to think of it. I never encountered Team Rocket before, but heard many stories about them. They were a well known criminal organization, and I admitted that I didn't know how I could trust someone who was part of such a group.

"I'm not going to pretend I didn't do things that you would think are bad, hun, and I'm not going to apologize for them. I had my reasons, and maybe one day I'll get to tell you those reasons. Now that the world has ended, though, I don't see how any of that matters. I've had other Team Rocket members turn on me. I've had people who looked like they were once nice and kind, like you guys, attack me. As far as I'm concerned the rules don't apply anymore." I was a bit surprised by her speech, but once again was feeling sympathetic toward her. I told her we would sleep on it for now and talk again in the morning.

The Pokémon were all asleep together in one of the sleeping bags when I walked in the room, and Wade was setting up some more cushions on the floor. He had removed his ranger jacket and shorts and was only wearing the tight long sleeved shirt and pants he wore underneath. All his clothing needed was a design on the chest and he would look like he was wearing the same outfit as Lucky. When he saw me he asked how Shieldon was doing.

"He's going to be just fine." I replied. He smiled and then showed me how he was using the cushions and sleeping bags to make little beds. One was already set up for me. I quickly changed out of my jacket and pants and got into the sleeping bag. With the cushions underneath it was surprisingly comfortable. I watched as Wade finished setting up a bed for himself next to me. He then walked over to the table where he had placed our backpacks and his other clothes.

"It's nice to be in a place that has some heating for a change." he said, taking off his shirt and putting it in the bag. He looked sweaty, which was understandable considering how many layers he was wearing and how warm the room was. I noticed that he had two long scars on his back, right between his shoulders. His skin looked beautiful in the low light. I suddenly realized I was staring at him as he took off his pants and was standing in his underwear. My stomach tensed up again, and I quickly rolled over to face away from him.

As I listened to him shuffling through his things behind me, I thought about how we were before the outbreak happened. We were just getting to know each other. He knew how to make me laugh with the strange things he said, like always making up nicknames for people on the spot. But I couldn't laugh at his jokes anymore. I couldn't see him as the charming ranger who lived just a short walk into the forest. I couldn't risk feeling that way about somebody. Not in that world. I was starting to like him again. And that feeling made my chest ache.

The sleeping bag beside me moved as Wade got into bed. I tried to stay quiet and face away from him even though my heart is racing. Though I tried not to, I couldn't help but wonder if he had been thinking about me at all. He was always very friendly, and liked me enough before the outbreak to ask me on a date. Things were different then, though. I figured there was no way he could still have feelings for me. I told myself that the way I felt was pointless. It would just make things uncomfortable for both of us as we travelled together. It would make it that much harder when I eventually lost him. I rolled onto my back and looked up at the ceiling. Out of the corner of my eye I could see he was doing the same.

"Still awake?" he said quietly.

"Yeah."

"I didn't get to tell you earlier... but you were pretty amazing today." My mouth started to feel dry as he spoke. I asked him what he meant.

"The whole plan to make it here, you leading us through it all," he replied, rolling over to look at me, "Even when Tropius showed up, you were ready to take him on. Then we get in here and you're patching up an injured Pokémon. One second you're an action hero and the next you're back to being daycare man." He rolled onto his back and looked up at the ceiling again.

"You're incredible Hunter."

I clenched my fists tightly, knowing he couldn't see them under my sleeping bag. It felt like I had the huge Pokémon Snorlax sitting on my chest. I took a few deep breaths then turned to look at him. He was starting to fall asleep. I realized that the more we talked, the more I was seeing that he was still the same person he was before. Even with the dead coming back to life and the world ending, he really was still the charming ranger who lived just a short walk into the forest. He was still the same person, but I felt like I had changed. How had he stayed the same? Why couldn't I?

"Thank you." I said quietly. He smiled and, half asleep, lifted his hand up in front of me and formed a fist.

"Good job today." he said quietly. I smiled and tapped his fist with mine.

"Good job."

The next morning I woke up to find that Cubone had crawled into my sleeping bag. When he saw my eyes were open he smiled and got up. He stretched his arms and his legs and then looked at me expectantly. Realizing he was probably hungry, I got up and got dressed. Everyone else was still asleep, so we decided to take some food into the Pokémon Center lobby and eat there.

We sat at the front desk to eat, and I started mindlessly flipping through some of the papers scattered around us. Most of them were medical documents that I could barely understand. Each one had the name of a Pokémon followed by various checkboxes indicating different conditions. Then at the bottom was a space for comments and the signature of the nurse who prepared the document. Almost all of them were signed by Nurse Joy.

I flipped through a dozen documents when I noticed one that stood out from the rest. Nothing on the document made sense to me, but the header of the page caught my eye. In the top right corner in a stylized font it read, "Rowan Laboratories, Sandgem Town, Sinnoh". I was only looking at the document for a few seconds when a loud rattling noise startled me. The computer at the front desk turned on.

The screen was divided into nine squares, each showing a different room in the Pokémon Center. In the corner of the screen was a time stamp, 8:38 a.m. On one of the screens I could see the room we had been sleeping in and saw Wade in his sleeping bag. I realized I was looking at the surveillance cameras in the building. I was still looking around the rooms when I heard a voice behind me.

"I see you found big brother!" Lucky said cheerfully.

"This wasn't on last night, was it?" I asked. Lucky shook her head and told me that she didn't know why, but for some reason the surveillance computer would deactivate automatically every night at around 9:00 p.m. She was trying to find a way to keep the computer active but so far had no luck. Then she drew my attention back to the room where we spent the night. On the screen we could see that Wade was awake and now out of bed. He was at his bag getting his clothes.

"Your boyfriend is quite the looker, isn't he?" Cubone spat out a piece of his food and started laughing. I squinted my eyes and shushed him.

"Wade and I aren't together." I said awkwardly, and Lucky raised her eyebrows at me. Cubone was still chuckling quietly. Ignoring both of them I showed Lucky the document I found and asked if she knew anything about it. She said she hadn't bothered looking at any of the papers lying around and so it didn't look familiar to her. She then pointed at another spot on the surveillance screen.

"See this room here? The storage room?" she said, "This is the crap storm you two almost unleashed last night." I looked at the screen and saw a room filled with undead people. They were barely moving, standing around the room with blank stares on their faces. Occasionally one would twitch or move its head around. The others would notice and move a bit too, but quickly stop again. They all looked like they were once regular people. Most were dressed casually and a few were wearing more formal business attire. My eyes moved slowly around the room from one person to the next until finally I saw a man standing at the back. My heart started to race.

He was standing at the back of the room, facing toward the camera. The lenses on his glasses were smashed and his face was covered in scratches. To most he would have seemed unremarkable. Just another victim of the plague. A monster locked safely in a cage where he belonged. The clothes he was wearing made him much more than just a victim to me, though. I hadn't seen that outfit for over a year but I recognized it immediately. He was wearing a Rowan Laboratories research aide uniform.

I quickly got everyone together in the lobby so I could tell them what was going on. I explained that the day before the outbreak Professor Rowan contacted me. Showing them the document I found I told them that the professor sent one of his aides to give me the last of his files. Then I pointed out the man on the screen. "I think that's the aide Rowan sent." I said, looking over his uniform again. "The files could be in that room. I have to get them."

Wade and Lucky both looked distressed.

"The second we open that door they are all going to charge at us!" Lucky said, stepping away from the screen.

"I hate to disagree with you Hunter," Wade said, "but she's right, it is risky."

"I know it is, but that file could contain the last of his research. If Professor Rowan didn't make it... then that would be the last of his work!" Lucky groaned and started pacing in front of the desk.

"What could be so important about those files that we need to risk our lives to get them?" she asked.

"To be honest, I didn't understand most of his work," I replied, "but I think he was researching the virus. Trying to find a way to stop it."

Lucky stopped pacing. "So you're saying," she said, leaning toward me, "there could be something about a cure in there."

"Maybe?" I said, shrugging. Lucky sighed and looked back at the screen.

"Dammit Hunter... what's the plan then?"

First we searched through the other rooms in the Pokémon Center to make sure there were no folders we may have overlooked. We also searched for weapons in the process. There were no more documents from Professor Rowan in the rest of the building, and so we knew there was only one more place they might be. Lucky already had a knife from the kitchen and Wade found two large pipes that he said we could use as weapons. We had our Pokémon stay in the room where Shieldon was sleeping so they would be safe if anything went wrong, and then went to the storage room.

Our plan was to keep opening and closing the door just long enough for me to get a glimpse inside while Wade and Lucky used the pipes to kill one or two of the undead as they came out. I stood up against the wall across from the door with the knife in my hand in case any of them got through to me. Lucky then put one hand on the doorknob and made sure we were all ready. She slowly counted to three and pulled the door open.

I tried my best to see inside but there was already one of them standing directly on the other side of the door. He seemed alarmed when the door opened, but then charged at us. Wade swung his pipe hitting the back of the man's head. Lucky quickly closed the door again and dragged the body out of our way. She asked if I saw anything and I shook my head. We got back into position and she put her hand on the doorknob again.

This time we could hear some movement in the room. Lucky warned that there would probably be more of them coming this time. Once more she counted to three and then opened the door. Two of them noticed us this time, a man and a woman. The man started limping toward us. Wade swung again, hitting him in the face. He fell backwards into the room and the woman behind him tripped over his body. She crawled toward us, now in the archway of the door. Wade hit the back of her head, killing her.

The noise attracted two more but the woman's body was preventing us from closing the door. Lucky started to pull it out of the way as the next two came charging through. Wade hit the first one and killed it, but lowered his guard. The second one lunged at him and he stumble back trying to avoid her. I quickly ran forward and thrust my knife through her temple. She twitched for a moment until I pulled the knife out and she fell to the floor. I was just about to close the door again when I saw it. At the back of the room on a shelf next to Rowan's assistant was a brown briefcase. I slammed the door shut and backed away.

"Sweet Arceus," Lucky said, panting, "Well that's half of them down. See anything yet?"

"Actually, I did. On a table, right next to Rowan's aide."

Lucky took a deep breath and put her hand on the doorknob. She counted to three again and opened the door. This time the rest of the undead were on the far end of the room, so Lucky started whistling to get their attention. They moved slowly, but one by one would shamble over to the door to be met with Wade's pipe. We killed three more before having to shut the door again and move the bodies.

With only two left we decided to charge into the room. Lucky and Wade lead, quickly swinging their pipes and killing the remaining infected. With the room cleared we all took a moment to relax. I walked over to the aide's body and looked at the nametag on his uniform. "Daisuke". I didn't recognize the name, but still felt sad to see him like that. I thought how brave he must have been, knowing what was going on and still trying to make it all the way to Route 205 to deliver files to me. Wade opened the briefcase and removed a piece of paper. "Rowan Laboratories," he said with a smile, "Well, daycare, looks like you got what you were looking for."

Back in the lobby Lucky and I started sorting through the contents of the briefcase while Wade went to check on our Pokémon. Inside we found two folders filled with paper, a portable data drive, and a red electornic device. Opening the first folder I saw the pages inside contained long lists of codes, while the documents in the second folder were lab reports. I picked up the red device just as Wade came back in with our Pokémon.

"Didn't think I would see one of those again!" he exclaimed, "Professor Rowan sent you a Pokédex?"

I had seen a few of these machines before, but never had the opportunity to actually use one. A Pokédex was a device that trainers used to identify Pokémon they encountered. I pressed a blue button on the front and a panel opened up revealing two screens, which both turned on simultaneously. "Pokédex initializing." said a voice coming from the machine, "Performing first-time startup. This Pokédex has been issued to... Hunter Yamauchi. Is this correct? Please confirm now." Awkwardly I told the device it had the correct name.

"Thank you." it replied, "Hello Hunter. You have been chosen by... Professor Rowan... to receive this Pokédex Digital Device. My full product code is... PDD70543. My voice has been set to... female, three. My name has been set to... Dede. You may adjust these settings now, or later from the settings menu. Are the current settings acceptable? Please confirm now."

"I guess?" I said, still confused, "That's fine."

"Thank you. Finally, we must calibrate the camera and confirm that my database is acceptable. Please point the camera at your Pokémon and instruct it to stand still. After hearing the Pokémon's description, please confirm that the data received is correct. If you cannot complete this step now, you may skip it by pressing the power button. You will need to callibrate the camera later before using this device. Please begin callibration now."

I told Cubone to hold still as I aimed the camera at him. I could see him on the top screen as green and blue lines ran over the image. Dede then snapped a photo of him, which shrunk to the top left corner of the screen. To the right of the image the device displayed Cubone's height, weight, and an example of a Cubone footprint.

"Cubone. The... lonely... Pokémon. If it is sad or lonely, the skull it wears shakes, and emits a plaintive and mournful sound. Thank you for completing camera calibration. Was the data presented correct? Please confirm now."

"It... was a bit depressing," I said, "But I guess it sounded right."

"Thank you. I hope you will enjoy your new Pokédex. If you have any questions about operating this device, you may ask me directly." I stared at the device in confusion, trying to imagine why Professor Rowan would think I needed a Pokédex. I wasn't a Pokémon trainer, and there didn't seem to be much point in trying to catch and identify Pokémon with the state the world was in. Wade seemed excited about it, but before he could take a look Lucky reminded us that we had documents to sort through.

I loaded the data drive onto the computer while Wade and Lucky looked through the file folders. The files on the drive seemed to be scans of the pages Lucky and Wade were looking at. I noticed it was missing some files though and contained several folders that were empty. The last two folders I found were labelled "Serums" and "OPA". I was about to check them when Wade started talking.

"Listen to this. This is the last of these lab files. It's called, 'Testing on Cell CLVII', then underneath there are a bunch of checkboxes. 'Responsive' and 'Remission' are both checked off. Under that there's a comment section that says, 'Subject 14B's cell tests positive for reaction to Serum CII. Will test subject directly'. Further down the page it says they tested on Subject 14B... a Pokémon of some kind. Again there are boxes for 'Responsive' and 'Remission'. Then there's a section for 'Subject Response' and there are more boxes. 'Reduced Hostility' is checked, 'Emotional Responsiveness' is checked. 'Motor Function, Heart Rate, Blood Pressure'..."

"I may not be a doctor," Lucky said, "but it sounds like the old man may have found a cure..." I quickly opened the "Serums" folder on the data drive and inside found a file labelled CII. Though I couldn't understand most of it, the document seemed to be a series of calculations. I recognized some of the values as chemical compounds.

"Well it looks like we have the cure now." I said, and explained what I found. Both of them were stunned. Lucky ran to the computer and started reading the screen, though she didn't understand the equations on it any better than I could.

"What are we supposed to do with this, though?" she asked, "Does that page say anything else, Wade?"

"There's one other thing here." he replied, "In the comments section under Subject 14B, it says 'Subject has responded positively, but we are out of time', then it says something about... needing to start OPA? Is that code for something?" I closed the serum document and then opened the folder I saw earlier labelled OPA. Inside was a single icon, a program with the same name.

"Whatever OPA is, I have it here." I said, and opened the file. A large blue widow appeared on the screen with what looked like the blueprint of a town in the center. In the top left corner of the screen it said "OPA Satellite Feed 005" and in the bottom right corner was the current time. Underneath the blueprint it said "Blackthorn City". A square marker then appeared on the map. The screen reloaded and displayed images of a large facility, with the words "Outbreak Protocol A, Blackthorn Laboratory, -200 ft." underneath.

Though I heard rumours of a fortification in Blackthorn City, what we were looking at was something much more elaborate. This appeared to be a large underground bunker. There were dozens of rooms displayed, and readings on the screen tracking power and oxygen levels. There was even an inventory of food and water supplies. The bunker had enough stored to last a big group of people several years. Lucky backed away from the computer.

"That place looks impressive but... Blackthorn City is in Johto. That's miles from here." Wade walked over to look at the screen.

"She has a point, Hunter," he said, "How does this help us? Trying to make it there would be next to impossible." As he spoke I noticed a button on the screen labelled "Current Inhabitants". I pressed it and a list of names opened. In the middle of the list two names stood out to me.

"Oak, Green. Gym Leader," and "Oak, Samuel. Pokémon Professor."

"It looks like we might have no choice." I said, pointing at the screen. "I think we have sonme sort of cure for this virus, and these may be the only two people alive who would know what to do with it."


End file.
